new st. paul's hospital, surrey rapid transit and highway 1 expansion among $4 billion in capital budget not spent by province
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skytrain expansion under construction in surrey.
jason payne
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the new st. paul’s hospital, the surrey rapid transit expansion and improvements to highway 1 in the fraser valley are among projects impacted by what the province is calling budget “slippage,” delays due to labour shortages, and supply chain challenges.
on monday, the ndp government admitted that $4 billion of its $15 billion capital plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year went unspent, representing roughly 25 per cent of the total.
following that revelation, postmedia and other news organizations asked for a breakdown of the projects, learning that it covers everything from schools to cancer centres to hospitals.
finance minister brenda bailey said monday that unlike projects that had their contracts cancelled or were sent back to the drawing board as part of the fiscal 2026-27 budget announcement in february, including phase 2 of the burnaby hospital expansion and seven long-term care homes, the projects that account for the unspent money are still proceeding — but at slower speeds.
“it’s not the same thing as repacing. repacing is a deliberate pulling back of a project and looking at when we can deliver it and how to keep the costs down,” said bailey.
“the projects that are experiencing slippage, maybe it’s a five-year build, and part of the build didn’t happen in year two but will happen in year three as part of a longer project. so they’re different things.”
a list of the projects provided to postmedia by the ministry of finance shows that spending on health care infrastructure was $1.8 billion less than expected last year, with $120 million of slippage occurring on the new st. paul’s hospital, which is scheduled to open next year.
a similar amount, $119 million, went unspent on the new cowichan district hospital, which is also scheduled to open next year.
smaller amounts of $78 million and $61 million were budgeted but not used for phase 1 of the burnaby hospital redevelopment and the new hospital and cancer centre in surrey.
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capital spending by the b.c. transportation and financing authority on infrastructure projects was also $1.2 billion less than anticipated, with $178 million and $117 million not spent on the surrey rapid transit expansion and highway 1 improvements between mt. lehman and highway 11, respectively.
the broadway subway project also spent $105 million less than expected last year, and efforts to repair damage from a landslide on highway 97 near the cottonwood river north of quesnel also fell $108 million short of what was anticipated.
post-secondary institutions and school districts have slowed down projects, with $350 million going unspent for post-secondary school expansions, including vancouver community college’s centre for clean energy and automotive innovation. school districts deferred $116 million of spending, including on burke mountain secondary in coquitlam and the new east side elementary in chilliwack.
conservative finance critic peter milobar told reporters that these projects represent much-needed improvements that british columbians will now have to wait longer for.
he also pointed out that while the projects have cost the province less in the short-term, they are likely to cost more in the long-term due to increases in the cost of labour and building supplies.
“while the government insists that they are actually investing in british columbia’s infrastructure, they’re actually continuing year over year over year, not delivering what they promise, and then turn around a year later and say, ‘oh, don’t blame us for being fiscally responsible,'” said milobar.
“well, then you shouldn’t have promised these things a year ago.”
the finance ministry said that slippage is nothing new and that the province regularly only spends 70 per cent to 75 per cent of the money it allocates toward capital projects in a given year.
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data provided by the ministry shows that every year since 2020-21, the province has spent less on capital projects than it planned, although the amount subject to slippage has grown along with increased budgets for infrastructure.
in the 2020-21 fiscal year, the province budgeted $7.126 billion for capital projects, but only spent $5.428 billion — $1.698 billion less than expected.
highway 1 work getting down between mt. lehman and abbotsford in 2024.
ministry of transportation and i
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govrnment of b.c.
jairo yunis, director of policy for the b.c. business council, agreed that some slippage is normal with large infrastructure projects, but the $4 billion amount in 2025-26 indicates that the province was too ambitious with its capital plan and could not deliver on what was promised.
he also warned that it is likely these projects will not only be delayed, but also cost more as labour and materials continue to rise.
“when the same thing happens six years in a row, it’s a pattern,” said yunis.
“so the honest question is whether the province keeps budgeting a level of construction it has repeatedly shown it can’t build. then the inevitable consequence of that is that projects will get delayed, and then they probably end up costing more.”
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